One Night
by StorySmall
Summary: A "3 years Later" story. Dipper steps out of the bedroom for just a second, and Mabel gets an unwanted visitor. Can she use her powers to get rid of the creature without getting hurt?


**STOP!** Follow the link entitled "Growing Up" on my profile page first. This story won't make any sense if you don't.

* * *

_The woods were changing color. They lost their orange-y feel and melted into a reddish-pink. Dipper gazed over at the sunset , which had just touched the horizon and was slowly falling further. He was alone, and it was a pleasant feeling; the breeze on his arms, the serenity of his solitude, and the last rays of light warming him all over. Nothing could break the peace of this moment….except…_

Thump!

Dipper moaned and curled up into a ball, holding his sore head. He felt the blankets over his legs, the scratchy sheets under him, and the extremely hard wooden headboard that had collided with his forehead moments ago. He was back in bed, in the creaky attic of the Mystery Shack. Dipper rolled over carefully, closing his eyes again. His knees were up to his chest because frankly, he and his sister had outgrown their little beds months ago, and there was no effort made to replace them. Speaking of his sister, Dipper opened his eyes and glanced at the other side of the room. Mabel was lying on her stomach, her feet resting on her pillow, and her head hanging off the end of her bed. Dipper smiled to himself and was about to fall back asleep, but he realized that he really needed to use the restroom. Dipper sighed and pushed the warm covers off to the side and staggered across the dark room. His foot collided with something in the dark and he stumbled, catching himself against the door with a grunt. Then he opened the creaky door and stepped out.

Dipper rubbed his hands under the cold water, still not fully awake. He glanced up at his tired reflection in the mirror. Wiping his hands on his pants, Dipper examined his face. His chin had grown out over the years, and his face wasn't chubby anymore, but he still had his tired eyes and wild hair. Dipper gently fingered the upside-down Y shaped scar next to his right eye.

It was a long story…how he got that scar. It happened back when….

_"__Don't come in." _

Dipper let out an abrupt cry and held his head as his sister's voice echoed in his thoughts.

_"__Mabel! Don't use telepathy! You know it gives me a heada-"_

_"__Don't come back into the room."_

Dipper glanced around the bathroom, then shut off the light and stepped out.

_"__Why not? What's wrong?"_

There was a pause.

_"__Mabel?"_ Dipper held his hand out, ready to shove the bedroom door open.

_"__Something's in our room. Don't startle it."_

It took every effort for Dipper to resist kicking the door down just then.

_"__What is it? Can you see it?" _he asked in his thoughts.

_"__I can make it out. It's really big, and it's making a humming noise," _Mabel said softly back. Dipper could tell she was afraid. He instinctively reached for the "3" journal in his jacket, but he was neither wearing his jacket, or had the book handy.

_"__Try to figure out what it is," _He said slowly, _"Don't hurry, just wait until you can see it."_

_"__Okay," _It was barely a whisper.

Dipper waited a moment, still ready behind the door. _"Mabel, I'm coming in, stay still."_

_"__No, no!" _Mabel said quickly, _"Don't move!"_

_"__Mabel, what happened?" _

_"__It's standing over me! Don't move!" _

Dipper winced at the fear in her voice, _"Can you see it?" _he asked quietly.

_"__It's like a hornet. A big one." _Mabel whimpered, _"It's got six legs, one big eye…" Mabel's voice broke a little, "I think it has a stinger too."_

Dipper's mind raced. _Big bug, one eye, stinger…. _There was something familiar about the description, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Mabel gasped in Dipper's thoughts.

_"__Mabel! Are you okay?"_

_"__I'm scared."_

Dipper pressed his hands to his face.

_"__C'mon Pines, think!" he thought to himself. Where have you seen this before?_

Dipper lowered his hands as an idea came to him. He pulled up on of the legs of his pants to reveal a swollen red spot below his knee.

_"__Mabel, I think I know what it is," _Dipper thought to Mabel, _"Does it look anything like the bugs we saw Wednesday when we were out in the woods? One of them stung me and my leg got all swollen."_

_"__Yeah…It actually looks a lot like one," _Mabel thought slowly,_ "What should I do?"_

_"__I want you to very carefully open the window."_

_"__Dipper I can't!" _Mabel protested, _"It's standing right above me!"_

_"__Use your powers!"_

_"__But that will make my hair all crazy, and he'll freak out!"_

_"__Mabel, trust me." _Dipper bit his lip as he thought the words, _"Trust me."_

It seemed like forever before Dipper heard a sound behind the door. The sob he heard made his heart sink.

Dipper threw the door open, letting it bang against the wall, and he nearly slumped to his knees in relief when he saw no one but Mabel curled up on her bed.

"Mabel, are you okay?" he asked, taking a seat next to her.

Mabel threw her arms around Dipper's neck and cried into his shoulder, "I was so scared," she stammered, "I didn't know what to do, I thought it would kill me!"

"Hey," Dipper said gently, rubbing her shoulder, "You did it. Everything's going to be fine."

Dipper simply held his sister for a little while longer, until Mabel pulled away.

"I opened the window," she explained, wiping her eyes, "Then the bug looked out at it, and shrank down into a size where it would fit, and flew out."

Dipper glanced over at the open window, then he stood and gently shut the triangular frame.

"There, it's done," Dipper said, "No worries."

Mabel hugged her pillow and rocked on herself slowly.

Dipper smiled gently, and picked up his own pillow.

"You wanna camp out tonight?" he asked gently.

Mabel smiled through her tears and nodded her head.

The twins lay together on the floor between their beds with Dipper's bedding on bottom and Mabel's on top.

"Don't leave…just for tonight," Mabel whispered, snuggling down into her pillow.

"I won't," Dipper assured her, "I promise."

Dipper switched off the light and it wasn't long before both Mabel was fast asleep, but Dipper couldn't quite get to sleep. It was only moments after he made his promise did he realize that he was very thirsty.


End file.
